Toy steam shovel



L.. STROHACKER Sept. l5,l 1925.

TOY STEAM SHOVEL Filed Sept. 12 1924 2 'Sheets-Sheet l sept. 15, 1925.

A l 1,553,482 l.. STROHACKER;

TOY STEAM sHovEL Filed Sept. l2. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 15, 192.5.

:UNITED STATES PATENT o-FI-'l-CE.

LOUIS STROHACXER, OF FBEEPOBT, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB; TO STRUCTO MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, OF vLEIREIEPOBI, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TOY STEAM SHOVEL.

Application ledeptember 12,1924. Serial No. 737,270.

This invention relates to toy steam shovels and its principal object is to provide an amusing, entertaining and instructive toy for children, and which shall simulate the act-ion of a steam shovel or dredge, so far as it picks up a load, elevates it and dumps it. I

Another object is to provide a toy which is simple in construction,fand which can be `manipulated by young children, who have no particular skill or experience with mechanical appliances. With these ends in view, this invention consists in a toy having a mast or boom, a shovel su ported thereby,

' and having a scoop provi ed with a trap door which may be opened to discharge the contents of the shovel, and manually operated shovel-'and trap door actuating mechanism operated from and by one drum. It further consistsn a toy as set forth wherein the drum may be rotated in one direction to -lower the shovel, close the trap door,'.raise the shovel 'and dump the load, and also turned in the reverse direction to'accomplish the same result. It further consists 1n a toy as above set forth having a pawl and ratchet mechanism whereby the shovel may be heldin any raised position. It furtherv consists in the several novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 1s a side elevation of a Atoy steam shovel embodying a simple form of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly broken out, showing the operative parts in diferent positions; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on theline 3-3 of on line 4.--4 of Fig. 3.

' Referring-to said drawings', which illustrate one embodiment of the present invention, the reference character 6 desi ates a platform, mounted on wheels 7, an having a turn table 8 secured thereon, on which is swiveled a housing or cabin 9. These parts may be made of liglitmetal work formed up' and secured together in suitable manner. They comprise the body portion of the toy. Secured to the frontA end ofthe bottom part of the cabin, and projecting upwardly v in an oblique direction therefrom, is a mast or post 10 which -is vformed of 4two com-,

panion struck up, channel like .members, that incline toward each other from the sides of the cabin (see Fig. 3) and then run parallel with each other to their outer` ends, where they are spaced apart and secured together by a rivet 11. Oblique brace rods 12 run from the top of the cabin 9 to the end portion of the mast and rigidly hold said mast in its inclined position.

Fulcrumed to the mast 10 approximately midway between its ends'is the shovel 13 which is capable of movement upon its ful-- crum from the position shown in vdoted lines in Fig. 2 to that shown in full lines in 'the same'gure. In its preferred form the shovel comprises a rectangular box like scoop or receptacle 14 open at the front and backend having a trap door or bottom 15l hinged at the back to ears contained on the walls of the receptacle. Preferably the sides of the trap door' or` bottom are bent up to form. flanges 16 that come up over the lower edges of the 'side walls of the scoop. Secured to and projecting from an endvwall 17 of the scoopis an arm 18, preferably formed of two spaced stri s or bars and said arm extends between t e two channel like members of the mast 10 and are pivotally secured thereto b a pin or rivet 19. The length of the arm, eyondits pivot point is such that it clears the top f the cabin (see Fig. 2) when the scoop 14 of the shovel is swung to itsuppermost position. A chain or other flexible connection 20, secured tothe end wall 17 of the shovel receptacle 14, is trained over a sheave 21, journaled at the upperv Lend of the mast, and runs to a drum 22, containedin the cabin, and operated by a crank 23. The chain 2O is fastened ato the drum,

and the drum is mounted onand fastened to a rod 24, which extends through theside v walls of the cabin and is bent upto form the crank 23. The crank may be turned in one direction to wind up the chain 20, on the drum, thereby raising the shovel. The

chain may then beunwound to lower the Yshovel to the. position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and rewound on the drum, there-V by raising the shovel to its uppermost positlon, by continuingto turn the crank in one direction.

In accordance with one phase of the invention a ratchet wheel is secured to the crank shaft or drum and a sprin 4pressed pawl 26 is secured `in, the cabin an engages with said ratchetwheel, whereby the ratchet wheel and therewith the drum may be held against retrograderotation. The shovel is thereby held in any position in which it is raised. The spring 27 may be separate from vthe p awl; and the pawl may be formed on the lower end of a pawl disengaging finger bar 28, which extends down through a slot in the top or roof of t-he cabin, to the spring 27. The iingerbar 2 8 is formed with a slot through which the crank sha-ft extends and guides the lower end' of the bar, and the upper end of the bar is formed with a notch 29 adapted for engagement with the top or roof` rtion of the cabin. ABy pushing the bar 2 down and engaging the notch with the roof, the pawl is held disengaged from the ratchet-wheel, and the drum may thereby be rotated in either direction. When the ratchet wheel is engaged by the pawl, the ratchet is released by pressing down on the bar 28.-

Means are yprovidedffor locking and holding the trap door or bottom 15 of -the scoop closed and for automatically releasing it from its closed, locked position, and the means shown will now be described.

Mounted on the arm 18 is a gravity latch `3() which has a finger 31 that is arranged to A underlie the trap door or bottom 115, in'one' full lines in the same-figure where it releases position of the latch 30 and thereby hold the trap door in closed, locked position. -In the form of latch shown, the latch has a shank portion 32 which extends loosely, between and parallel with the two members of the arm 18. The latch 30 is guided to move longitudinally along the arm from the position seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2, where it locks the trap door closed, to that shown in or unlocks the trap door and; permits it to swing open under the influence of gravity. The location and exact construction of the latch is immaterial to this invention, broadly considered, but it has been shown in this form for the purposes of illustration only. In the present form lthe latch is guided to move lengthwise of the arm 18 by flanges 33, which are secured on and project from the two side edges of the shank 32, and embrace the two members of the arm 18 between them., The latch is free to slide'along the arm and the trap door, and the edge of the finger which engages the trap door extends at a slight angle to the length of the arm to"- enable lthe finger to freely engage the bottom -falls by gravity face ofthe trap door. When the shovel is lowered from the position seen in full lines in Fig. 2 to that shown in dotted lines in the same figure, the trap door swings shut by gravity and the latch drops |by gravity, sliding along the arm 18, until the nger engages with the underside yof theclosed trap oor.

For unlocking the trap door a release rmechanism is provided, which in the form illustrated, comprises a chain 34 secured to -the latch 30, and trained around a pin 35,

tight and when the trigger member. strikes against the top of the cabin,'its movement is arrested, whereas the adjacent end of the shovelarm' 18 continues downward, as its other end moves upward', thel result being that as the pin 35 on the arm 18 moves downward, it bends the chain out of a straight line and shortens the distance between the points of attachment of the chain to the trigger 36 and latch 30. The latch is thereby disengaged from the trap door and the latter is thereby permitted to drop.

In the operation of the toy above described the person turns the crank and' winds the'l chain 20 upon the drum and unwinds it therefrom, thereby raising and lowering the shovel. Fig. l shows the-shovel in full lines at a point intermediate its extreme upper and lower positions, with the trap door Vclosed. As the scoop approaches its upper-v most position, the trigger strikes against the roof ofthe ca'bin, and stops, while the shovel arm continues toy move, thereby bearing down on the trigger chain 34 and releasing the latch to open and dump the contents of the scoop. This vposition of the parts' is shown in full lines in Fig. 2. By turning the drum inthe reverse direction, the shovel is lowered, the' trigger released, andthe 4latch and holds the trap. door in locked position. v

Among the advantages of this toy are its i I simplicity of construction-andits mode of operation. Children can operate it without any diiliculty. It is strong and substantial,

and not likelyl to get out of order. It is an V amusing, an interesting and instructive toy.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction is possible without departing from the spirit o this invention; I desire,

' therefore, not to limit myself to theexact 4form of the construction shown and da scribed, but intend, in the following claims, to point out all of the invention disclosed herein. Y J A I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. `A toy comprising a body portion, having a mast extending up therefrom, a shovel fulcrumed on said mast, and having a scoop at one end, the discharge opening of which is controlled by a trap door, a sliding latch having arelatively long finger formed with an inclined door engaging edge adapted to underlie and support the trap door in closed position, a drum mounted on said body portion, a flexible connection between said drum and shovel, and means controlled by the movement of said shovel for actuating said latch'to unlock the trap door.

2. A toy comprising a body portion, having a mast extending up therefrom, a shovel fulcrumed on said mast, and having a scoop at one end, the discharge opening of which is controlled by a gravity trap door, a sliding gravity latch having a relatively long linger formed with an inclined door engaging edge adapted to overlie and support the trap door in closed position, a drum mounted on said body portion, a flexible connection between said drum and shovel, and means controlled by the movement of said shovel for actuating'said latch to unlock the trap door.

3. A toy comprising a body portion, having a mast extending up therefrom, a shovel having an arm fulcrumed on said mast, and a scoop on v011e end of said arm, the discharge opening of which is controlled by a' gravity trap door, a gravity latch slidably mounted on said shovel arm and having a relatively long door engaging linger formed with an inclined edge, arranged to lockingly engage said trap door, a drum mounted on said body portion, a flexible connection between said drum and shovel and a latch actuating trigdger carried by said shovel arm, and connecte to said latc 4. A toy comprising a body portion, having a mast extending up therefrom, a shovel -having a'n arm fulcrumed on said viscoop mast, and a scoop on one end of said arm, thedischarge opening of which is controlled by a gravity trap on said shovel arm and arranged to lockingly engage said trap door, a drum mountcdon said body portion, a flexible connection between said drum and shovel, a latch releasin trigger fulcrumed on said'sliovel arm, a exible connection between said trigger and latch, and a member onsaid shovel arm' under which said flexible connection between the trigger and latch istrained, said trigger being arranged to engage a stationary element of. the' toy to thereby release the latch.

5. A toy comprising a support, ashovel fulcrumed on said support and having a at one end, the discharge openinof which is controlled by a trap door, a sli ing latchI having a relatively long finger arranged to underlie and engage with said trap door to support and hold the same closed, and shovel and latch actuating means.

6. A toy comprising a support, a shovel having a shovel arm fulcrumed on said supportl and a scoop at one end of the arm, the discharge opening of which is controlled by a trap door, a sliding latch slidably mounted on said shovel arm and having a relatively lon finger arranged to underlie and engage wit i said trap door to support and hold the same closed, and shovel and latch` actuating means.

7. A toy comprising a support, a shovel fulcrumed on said support and having a scoop at one end, the discharge opening of which is controlled by a trap door, a sliding latch having a linger adapted to underlie Ithe trap door and support the same in closed position, and shovel and latch actuating means.

4Louis STROHACKER. 

